Los Angeles Salsa Soccer Team

Midfielder Art Temblador and his coach, Octavio Zambrano, used their heads to bounce a soccer ball back and forth Thursday before 150 cheering Sunset Lane Elementary School students. Temblador and Zambrano, of the professional Los Angeles Salsa soccer team, carried out their maneuver to illustrate a point: You must use your head to play the game. "You also must use your head to succeed in school and in life," Zambrano, 36, told the students, who belong to the campus anti-drug club Just Say No.

At game time one evening last week, seated in his private corner of the elevated press box at Trabuco Hills High School, William de la Pena gazed down over rolling hills, red tile roofs and stucco-framed houses that dot the ever-expanding Saddleback Valley. De la Pena, owner of the Salsa Professional Soccer Club, contemplates conquering this area by permanently establishing his team in Mission Viejo.

At game time one evening last week, seated in his private corner of the elevated press box at Trabuco Hills High School, William de la Pena gazed down over rolling hills, red tile roofs and stucco-framed houses that dot the ever-expanding Saddleback Valley. De la Pena, owner of the Salsa Professional Soccer Club, contemplates conquering this area by permanently establishing his team in Mission Viejo.

The Salsa, which has competed the last two seasons in the American Professional Soccer League, has decided to sit out the 1995 season. Owner William De La Pena is reorganizing and restructuring the franchise and has asked the APSL to allow him to maintain his franchise rights, logo and player contracts. He also is considering a merger with the Vancouver 86ers, one of seven remaining APSL teams.

The Los Angeles Salsa, which will begin play in the American Professional Soccer League in 1993, reached a three-year agreement with Cal State Fullerton to play home games in the new Titan Sports Complex, the team announced Thursday. William De La Pena, a Montebello ophthalmologist who owns the team, also announced that Rick Davis, former U.S.

After opening with five consecutive road games, the Salsa will have its American Professional Soccer League home opener July 24 against the Seattle Sounders at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium. The Salsa will open the season July 1 and 8, in Denver against the Colorado Foxes, who defeated the Salsa for the league championship last season. The schedule: July--1 at Colorado; 8 at Colorado; 14 at Houston; 16 at Ft. Lauderdale; 22 at Vancouver; 24 vs. Seattle; 28 vs. Ft. Lauderdale.

Paulinho, the leading scorer and most valuable player in the American Professional Soccer League last season, has agreed to a contract that will keep him with the Salsa for two more years, the team said Friday. Paulinho, a 32-year-old midfielder, scored 16 goals while leading the Salsa to the APSL final against Colorado last season. The Salsa opens the season July 1 against Colorado in Englewood, Colo.

The Los Angeles Salsa, which will begin play in the American Professional Soccer League in 1993, reached a three-year agreement with Cal State Fullerton to play home games in the new Titan Sports Complex. Dr. William De La Pena, a Montebello ophthalmologist who owns the team, also announced that Rick Davis, former U.S. national team captain and New York Cosmos standout in the late 1970s and early '80s, would be the Salsa's general manager.

Ian Feuer, who earns his paychecks by keeping goal for the Salsa, vividly remembers his first championship game. It was three years ago, and he was playing for Club Brugge in Belgium. He was a third-team goalkeeper then, so he remembers the atmosphere surrounding the game rather than any action. "It was pretty exciting," he said, smiling. "The whole city was jumping in water fountains."

Less than a month before the Salsa is scheduled to begin play in Mexico's new soccer league, the team has encountered opposition from two of the sport's governing bodies that might stop its participation, team officials said Wednesday. The Salsa was approved to compete in Mexico's Division 1-A on June 26 by a 10-8 vote of the U.S. Soccer Federation's board of directors. The team planned to start play when the league's inaugural season opens Sept. 2.

Paul Wright, who shared the scoring championship of the American Professional Soccer League last year, was released by the Salsa because of a contract dispute, General Manager Rick Davis said Monday. Wright had 12 goals last season and 25 in his two seasons with the Salsa. "We've come to a contractual impasse where it seemed that we weren't able to resolve certain issues," Davis said.

Midfielder Art Temblador and his coach, Octavio Zambrano, used their heads to bounce a soccer ball back and forth Thursday before 150 cheering Sunset Lane Elementary School students. Temblador and Zambrano, of the professional Los Angeles Salsa soccer team, carried out their maneuver to illustrate a point: You must use your head to play the game. "You also must use your head to succeed in school and in life," Zambrano, 36, told the students, who belong to the campus anti-drug club Just Say No.

The Salsa announced Monday that it is postponing its "United We Are" international soccer series, which matched the Salsa against teams from the Mexican First Division. Because of Proposition 187, the voter-approved initiative that would cut off services to undocumented immigrants, the Mexican Soccer Federation council voted over the weekend not to allow its teams to play in California, with the exception of games with the Salsa. But the Salsa and the council agreed to halt the series anyway.

Salsa goalkeeper Mike Littman dived quickly to his left, stretched toward the goal post and hoped for the best. Nice effort, but no luck. Littman, in his second season with the organization, allowed a goal early in the first half against Vancouver on Aug. 21. Quick scores can rattle the best goalkeepers, let alone a journeyman battling for a job. Although disappointed, Littman kept his cool--and got tough.

Bobby McKillop and Savo Mitrovic don't understand all of the issues behind the baseball players' strike. But they know they'll have to find something else to occupy their spare time now that the major league baseball players' strike has begun. Players from the Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International, the Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League, and the Splash of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, hope some fans will focus on something new.

Less than a month before the Salsa is scheduled to begin play in Mexico's new soccer league, the team has encountered opposition from two of the sport's governing bodies that might stop its participation, team officials said Wednesday. The Salsa was approved to compete in Mexico's Division 1-A on June 26 by a 10-8 vote of the U.S. Soccer Federation's board of directors. The team planned to start play when the league's inaugural season opens Sept. 2.

The Salsa will attempt to stay alive in play in the CONCACAF Cup at 4 p.m. today when it plays Alianza of El Salvador at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium. The game is the second of a two-game series, and the Salsa needs more than just a victory to advance in the Cup, a tournament for soccer league champions and runners-up in North and Central America and the Caribbean. Alianza won the first game last Saturday in San Salvador, 1-0.

Bobby McKillop and Savo Mitrovic don't understand all of the issues behind the baseball players' strike. But they know they'll have to find something else to occupy their spare time now that the major league baseball players' strike has begun. Players from the Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International, the Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League, and the Splash of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, hope some fans will focus on something new.

"Catch Pro Soccer After The World Cup"--that's how the ad copy reads. Except there's a catch. No Romario. No Bebeto. (Though there is a Paulinho, a midfielder from Criciuma, Brazil, who once played in the same league with Romario and Bebeto). No Alexi Lalas. No Tony Meola. (Though there is Jeff Agoos, a defender from the University of Virginia who used to play with Lalas and Meola before he was cut from the 1994 U.S. World Cup team.) No Brazilian samba drums beating in the stands.

On a large practice field next to Titan Stadium at Cal State Fullerton, the L.A. Salsa soccer players are panting through conditioning drills at the end of a two-hour morning workout, their bodies drenched with perspiration and their faces imploring reprieve. Some look like condemned men, wondering if the governor will call. Or at least fax.